Prior post couplers have been used to couple post ends together to form an elongated, unitary corner post or column used with other corner posts to support a plurality of shelves mounted on elongated brackets or beams connected to and extending horizontally between the corner posts. Typically, the posts are of angled construction defined by flanges at 90° to each other and are provided with keyhole-shaped slots for receiving rivets extending from the elongated shelf beams which are oriented horizontally between the posts. The rivets interlock the beams to the posts to define a ladder-like shelf frame on which shelves are supported.
These beams can thus be adjusted vertically, up and down the posts, to provide for a desired vertical spacing between shelf members supported by the beams. This range of vertical adjustability is limited, however, by the post couplers, which serve to interconnect post members in vertical alignment to form a unitary post used as a column.
It will be appreciated that in a shelving apparatus formed by composite posts which are defined by two or more post sections, coupled end-to-end by such couplers, the length of the couplers is typically long enough that the coupler covers at least two levels of rivet-receiving keyhole slots in each of two adjacent post members. The prior couplers then cover, mask or obstruct four levels of slots in the assembled post. This prevents location of shelf-supporting brackets at the vertical height where the post members are joined by the couplers, since no beam supporting rivets can be extended through slots of the post at the ends of the vertical post members and which are covered by the couplers. There is thus a vertically-oriented void area in a prior shelving unit defined by the vertical extent of the useful, but slot-blocking, post couplers.
In a related application, there is provided a post coupler of an outside wrap configuration wherein the coupler wraps around post sections edges from the outside to inside reverse bend flanges of the coupler and is provided with rivet receiving apertures indexed with like apertures in the post sections and to accommodate universal beam mount even at the coupler locations. In instances where alternative couplers which wrap around post edges from the inside to outside reverse bend flanges, it is desired to provide improved couplers of this configuration which also accomplish universal or unlimited beam mounting even at the coupler positions.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a shelving unit with an unlimited vertical spacing capacity for the shelves where the corner posts are each defined by at least two end-to-end post members joined by a coupler disposed on the inside of the post members and which wraps around post edges from the inside to reverse bend flanges disposed along the outside of the post members.
A further objective of the invention has been to provide a post coupler in combination with corner post members in a shelving unit wherein the couplers may be integrated with the shelf-supporting beams to provide unlimited vertical positioning of the shelf along the length of the shelving unit corner posts, whether mounted on the inside or outside of the coupled post members.
A further objective of the invention has been to provide an inside-to-outside wrap post coupler for accommodating the horizontal shelf supporting beams at their interface with shelf unit corner posts.